Lung Cancer Treatment in Israel

Lung cancer is a disease characterized by the random and uncontrolled cell growth of lung tissue. Without timely treatment, it can metastasize into other parts of the body, such as the brain.

Symptoms and Risk Factors

Common risk factors for lung tumors include are long-term exposure to tobacco smoke and environmental pollutants are the primary cause of lung cancer. The most common symptoms include coughing (including hemoptysis), weight loss and shortness of breath. In recent years, the incidence of lung cancer has been steadily rising. Responsible for over 1.3 million deaths per year, it is now the most common cancer among men, and the third largest cause of death among women. One of the reasons for this devastating statistic is that lung cancer is that is often only diagnosed at a late stage, when recovery rates only amount to approximately 15%.

When a pulmonary tumor is suspected, prompt confirmation of the diagnosis is crucial:

Screening

Basic workup program (7 working days):

• Blood tests (CMP, electrolyte levels, coagulation factors, lipid profile, and tumor markers
• Whole-body PET-CT scan (in order to measure the size of the primary tumor and metastases
• Pulmonary function tests (spirometry, diffusion capacity, blood gas analysis, etc.)
• CT/US-guided lung biopsy or bronchoscopic biopsy, including expedited histopathological and IHC studies
• Cardiac stress test (functional assessment of the heart and coronary arteries and at rest and during exercise)
• Oncopulmonologist’s consultation

Your treating specialist will be Dr Amir Onn, Director of the Sheba Medical Center’s oncopulmonology department.

Treatment

Treatment will depend on the results of the screening. Final price is individual for each patient and depends on the procedures he or she will be referred for.

• When the tumor is limited to one lobe and no metastatic spread is detected, a lobectomy is performed. Cost of procedure includes up to 6 days of hospitalization, biopsy of the removed mass, and postoperative monitoring by the surgeons – Prof Ben Nun and Dr. Amir Onn. Approximate stay in Israel following discharge: 10 days.

• When there is lymph node involvement and and/or mets into other organs, the treatment of choice is chemotherapy. The regimen will be prepared and supervised by an oncochemotherapist from Assuta Hospital. The first consultation will take place in Israel. The treatment itself can be carried out either in Israel or at your country of residence (according to the prescribed protocol).

IMRT Therapy

Recently, a new type of radiation therapy has been introduced. It is indicated for with bilateral lung cancer, provided no extrapulmonary spread has been detected, and can be combined with chemotherapy. Known as IMRT Rapid Arc (integrated boost), it is the latest radiotherapy technology, allowing specialists to only irradiate the tumor, without damaging surrounding healthy. Tolerability and efficacy of this technique is considered much higher than in standard radiotherapy.  The number of sessions required will be determined by your RT specialist based on pre-treatment simulation results.